Tracking Performance

Understand the daily numbers and beyond

Many newspapers list daily results from major American financial markets. However, tracking performance means more than looking up a specific fund in the paper every day. You need to understand the listings, their commonly used abbreviations and what they mean. Armed with this information, you can track your current investments and any funds you are considering purchasing for your portfolio.

Evaluate funds from all angles

A fund's short-term performance record is only part of the story. Be sure to evaluate long-term results to determine performance over time. You should also determine how much risk the fund took on to produce those returns. Typically, investments offering higher potential for reward also involve greater possible risk.

Assess risk

There are two useful statistics that can help you assess risk or volatility:

Standard deviation — Measures a fund's historical fluctuations of its returns.
Beta — Quantifies how sensitive the fund is to market movements. A beta of 1 indicates that the security's price will move with the market. A beta greater than 1 indicates that the security's price will be more volatile than the market. A beta less than 1 means that it will be less volatile than the market.

In addition to these two statistics, investors in high tax brackets may also want to consider a fund's tax efficiency by looking at the amount of capital gains paid out during the last few years.

Consult objective rating and ranking companies

Many investors and their financial advisors rely on two well-known rating and ranking companies for objective, third-party information about mutual fund performance. Morningstar®, Inc. and Lipper Inc. are independent companies that analyze a wide array of statistics to evaluate fund performance, risk, investment style and historical consistency. Both companies assess funds on a stand-alone basis and relative to their peers.

Learn more

View Fund Performance for current Evergreen Investments funds. Explore other Investing Essentials topics through the menu to the left. Access extensive reference materials through the Literature Library. Or contact a financial advisor for advice on the right investment strategy for your specific goals.

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Past performance does not guarantee future results. The performance quoted represents past performance and current performance may be lower or higher. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that investors' shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance at NAV does not include the effect of sales charges. Performance includes the reinvestment of income, dividends and capital gain distributions.

An investor should consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. This and other important information can be found in the fund's prospectus. Obtain a prospectus online and read carefully before investing.

Investments in stocks, bonds and mutual funds:
NOT FDIC INSURED | NOT BANK GUARANTEED | MAY LOSE VALUE

Evergreen mutual funds are distributed by Evergreen Investment Services, Inc., 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116.

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